


Bandz A Make Him Dance

by stillskies



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-05
Updated: 2013-03-05
Packaged: 2017-12-04 09:12:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/709060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillskies/pseuds/stillskies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tiger, Blue Rose and Bunny reunite on stage! Agnes is on a quest for ratings! Kaede is scarred for life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bandz A Make Him Dance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lordlings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lordlings/gifts).



> So, this came about because my lovely wife, [chaineddove](http://archiveofourown.org/users/chaineddove/pseuds/chaineddove), showed [lordlings](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lordlings/pseuds/lordlings) a clip of Tiger, Bunny and Karina dancing, and somehow I was the one nominated to write them dancing. Again. Idek. So, I hope you all enjoy this. ♥
> 
> Also, the title started out as a joke because of the horridness of [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI0gk2KJeho) song. And sort of... stuck.

There are many reasons he agrees – it's something to _do_ , it'll help out Blue Rose (although, why she's so adamant about him, specifically, helping her, he doesn't know, and if he has an inkling about it, well, then that's something that is easily ignored), and Lloyds all but threw himself to the ground with tears pouring down his cheeks in desperation – but it all comes down to this:

"You're so lame," Kaede says, favoring him with a look of disgust that only a preteen can do correctly. "I don't even know why you went back if you're just going to complain about having to do something."

"But, Kaede," he tries, "Papa is a _Hero_. Not a back-up –"

"Lame," Kaede interrupts and hangs up, leaving Kotetsu to stare at nothing. 

"You know," Barnaby says lightly, handing Kotetsu a glass of wine, "it's not something you haven't done before."

"You, too, Bunny?"

"Besides," he continues, clearly ignoring Kotetsu's anguish, "you wouldn't be alone."

And, so, Kotetsu agrees.

*

Blue Rose – he doesn't think he'll ever get used to calling her Karina, despite her insistence when he debuted with the Second League nearly six months ago – is watching him with narrowed eyes, hands placed firmly against her hips and she counts off the beats Kotetsu is ostensibly using to time his dancing. "My god," she says once the song ends, "did you get _worse_?" Kotetsu would say she almost looks impressed, except he's pretty sure that would favor badly against him.

Helplessly, he throws his palms up in surrender. "There's just too much…" He waves his hands around, trying to supply the perfect word.

"Movement?" Barnaby suggests, and Kotetsu can _hear_ the smug grin in his voice. 

"I can _move_ , Bunny," he shoots back before returning his attention back to Rose. "Too much direction," he says.

Blue Rose's eyes narrow down to slits, and he wonders if she can still see him. "Do you have a problem with my _choreography_ , Tiger?"

Kotetsu winces. "It's great," he enthuses. "Lots of… movement. But does it have to be so _complicated_?"

"It's not _my_ fault you can't turn without falling on your face," she huffs, spinning on her heel and grabbing her bottle of water. He can see the towel he gave her the last time he and Barnaby performed with her laid carefully on the floor her gym bag. "Now, let's start from the beginning."

*  
Being in the Second League has given Kotetsu a great deal of free time. Not nearly as many late nights, more time to do things that are _not_ being a hero, which took some getting used to in the beginning and found him staying up, glued to the television and yelling at the screen. It startled Barnaby at first, on the rare occasions that he stayed over after dinner, or a movie, or Legend reruns. But Kotetsu has settled nicely, which isn't to say he still doesn't stay up late to yell at his former colleagues on HeroTV once in awhile.

"For crying out loud," Kotetsu says, edging forward. Barnaby's legs in his lap stop him from toppling off of the couch. "Did you see that just now?" Barnaby, who is reading, murmurs in agreement. "You'd think Antonio wasn't paying any attention!"

Barnaby turns the page.

"Bunny," he whines, running his finger across the bottom of Barnaby's foot. This earns him a heel to the thigh, but Barnaby is looking at him now, which Kotetsu considers a win. "Come on, how can you not care?"

With a sigh, Barnaby places the bookmark – a limited edition Wild Tiger comeback card that Kotetsu had gotten him as a gag when they first started out in the Second League – carefully between the pages and fixes Kotetsu with a fondly annoyed expression. "I think," Barnaby says, gesturing to the television where Blue Rose and Dragon Kid have apprehended the criminals, "they have it under control, Kotetsu."

Kotetsu watches the leader board flash across the screen, awarding capture and rescue points. He remembers when his name used to be on there, his and Bunny's, and he feels a pang of nostalgia. It's not like he _wants_ to be back in the First League – even though he knows it would just take the beginning of the phrase to get them back into the action – but he does miss it. He thinks Barnaby does, too, but Barnaby is as stubborn as Kaede, so he doubts that he'll ever get that admission out of his partner. 

"The city of Sternbild is once again safe, thanks to the quick actions of our Heroes!" the announcer booms, and the camera pans to get shots of Sky High and Origami Cyclone, Dragon Kid and Blue Rose, Fire Emblem and Rock Bison. They're all conveniently posed for optimum effect, and Kotetsu has to admit he doesn’t miss that, or Agnes' incessant dictates to increase ratings buzzing in his ears. "And don't forget to tune in tomorrow night for the comeback special of everyone's favorite musical combination: Wild Tiger, Blue Rose, and Barnaby Brooks, Jr.!" 

Kotetsu shuts the television off and groans. "We're just back-up dancers," he grumbles. "It's not like we're singing or anything!"

Barnaby opens his mouth, but suddenly Kotetsu's phone goes off, and Barnaby shakes his head, gesturing for Kotetsu to take the call. Kotetsu picks up the phone and the screen pops up, showing Kaede grinning at him. Her smile is infectious, and Kotetsu grins back.

"Kaede!" Kotetsu says happily, and Barnaby removes his legs from Kotetsu's lap and rearranges himself so that he can say hello to Kaede before disappearing into the kitchen. "What are you doing up so late?"

She rolls her eyes. "It's only nine, Dad," she says with the long suffering voice of a pre-teen. "Anyway, I was calling to say that Grandma and Uncle Muramasa and I are coming to the concert tomorrow night, so you better get us tickets."

"Eh?"

"And," she continues, completely ignoring the baffled expression on her father's face. "If you embarrass me by dancing like a complete weirdo, I am never talking to you again. Ever," she adds for emphasis before hanging up.

Barnaby returns and hands him a glass of wine. He's beginning to suspect that this is becoming habit – talk to Kaede, drink a glass of wine – and he's not quite sure what that means. He takes the glass and sips the alcohol. "Kaede's coming," he says, even though he's pretty sure that Barnaby heard.

"I gathered," Barnaby replies dryly, worrying the stem of his glass between his fingers. 

Kotetsu sighs and stands, placing his barely-drunk glass of wine on the coffee table. Barnaby glares and puts the glass on a coaster. "I think I'm going to run through it one more time."

Barnaby shakes his head. "Shall I count for you?"

He glares for a moment before giving Barnaby a sheepish grin. "Would you?"

Barnaby smiles. "For you? Anything."

*

There are exactly twenty two minutes and fifty-seven, fifty-six, fifty-five seconds until they are supposed to go on stage. Rather than going through the routine again (and again, and again, just for good measure), Kotetsu is trapped in a room the size of a closet with Barnaby, attempting to maneuver into their Hero suits, which Kotetsu maintains is ridiculous.

"I mean," he grouses, moving his head just as Barnaby's arm plates snap into place, "everyone already _knows_ who I am, don't they? So why can't we just wear something we can _move_ in?"

"Kotetsu," Barnaby says, exasperated. "Sometimes, I wonder if you're the one with memory problems."

"I'm just saying," he grumbles, opening the door in time to find Agnes storming down the hall, a gleam in her eye that can only mean a new idea to generate ratings. Quickly, he shuts the door.

"We need to get go – " His partner doesn't finish his sentence because Kotetsu has pulled Barnaby against him and planted his hand firmly over Barnaby's mouth.

" _Agnes_ ," he hisses, which has Barnaby straightening up quickly.

Three minutes pass before they venture from the room, only to find Agnes leaning against the opposite wall, arms folded under her breasts and smiling at them like they are her new favorite people. Kotetsu swallows.

"Bonjour, Heroes," she says.

*

It's two minutes and thirty seven seconds until show time when Kotetsu and Barnaby burst into the wings to find Blue Rose agitatedly flinging her arms about until she catches sight of them. "You," she says, whirling around and stalking towards them. "Do you even know how _worried_ I've been?"

"Sorry, sorry," Kotetsu apologizes. 

"Whatever," Rose replies. She turns around quickly, but Kotetsu is pretty sure she is blushing. 

"So, uh," Kotetsu begins. "Did Agnes…?"

"Yes," she says, voice tight. "I was hoping we could go over the changes, but we have less than a minute before we have to be on stage, so don't mess up."

*

He's doing pretty well, if he does say so himself. He hasn't entirely messed up, although he's pretty sure that he was off beat for a good ten seconds. He can see Agnes in the wings, smiling at him as though daring him to not go along with her brilliant plan.

 _It's perfect,_ she had said after cornering them in the hall _You want something you can move in, and I want even better ratings than that unfortunate incident._ No one had had to ask what that incident was – the video is still going viral on the internet, although Keith assures him that the hit count isn't climbing as steadily as it was when it first went live. 

Kotetsu is pretty sure this is payback for telling everyone what he had walked in on at the last Hero function.

The music is speeding up, and Blue Rose is crooning into her microphone, lifting her arms above her head and striking her signature pose. This, of course, is Kotetsu's and Barnaby's cue.

Barnaby isn't looking at him; instead, he's stepping forward, fingers already reaching for the front of the brand new button-down shirt he's wearing, courtesy of Agnes. Barnaby's is white; Kotetsu has a matching one in black.

 _Kaede is never going to talk to me again,_ he thinks morosely, hands in place. And then Blue Rose is singing the final note and Kotetsu pulls.

*

Agnes is waiting for them after the show, a self-satisfied grin completely at home on her smug face. "Thank you," she says, and she even sounds sincere. "Those ratings were _much_ better." And then she sashays off. 

It's colder than he thought, although that probably has something to do with the fact that there's a fan blowing to keep backstage cool and he's only wearing the tattered remains of what was once a nice button-up. Barnaby is in a similar state, so Kotetsu wraps one arm around Barnaby's shoulders. 

All in the name of keeping warm, of course.

They head back to their closet and change into their street clothes. When Kotetsu checks his phone, there are fifteen new messages, all from Kaede. He's wincing by the second one while Barnaby smirks. 

Once he's deleted the last message – which was more of a verbal beating, in Kotetsu's opinion – Barnaby opens the door. "Shall we find Kaede?" he asks.

*

"That," Kaede says, "was the most embarrassing thing. Ever." Her face is still a bit red – from the shock, she's assured him repeatedly for the past hour – and her eyes are still wide. She won't even _look_ at Barnaby, which Kotetsu finds humorous, considering she had posters of his swimsuit shoot plastered on her wall until the day she found out that Barnaby was moving in with Kotetsu. "I mean," she continues, pointing her finger at him menacingly, "did you have to do _that_?"

"I didn't have a choice!" Kotetsu protests. "Agnes –"

"So you'll do anything for ratings, now?" she interjects with disgust. "I'm never talking to you. Ever again." She stands up and storms off; Kotetsu hears the guest bedroom door slam a moment later.

"But," Kotetsu tries again, " _she's_ the one who told me to do this!" He's not sure if he's referring to Agnes and the strip show or Kaede and the back-up dancing, but either way, it's _not his fault_.

Barnaby pats him consolingly on the shoulder and offers him a glass of wine.

"The next time someone asks me to do something that _isn't saving people_ ," he emphasizes, taking the glass from Barnaby, "tell me not to do it."

"Agreed," Barnaby says.

**Author's Note:**

> The... incident involving Agnes comes from [Perfect Shots](http://archiveofourown.org/works/704563), written by the lovely [chaineddove](http://archiveofourown.org/users/chaineddove/pseuds/chaineddove). Used with permission, of course.


End file.
